A citywide power outage that had been planned for Easter morning has been scrapped for now, as federal officials don’t want to disturb a pair of nesting birds.

The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) initially planned to shut off the City of Powell’s electricity from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Sunday. That was to allow their crews to remove a nest that some birds — apparently ospreys — have constructed on a switch north of town.

However, around midday Wednesday, WAPA announced that they’ve decided to postpone the project and the power outage until after the birds’ nesting season.

“Protecting migratory birds is an important part of our environmental stewardship responsibilities, and delaying the outage will allow us to avoid disturbing the birds during this sensitive period,” a WAPA spokesperson said in an email to the Tribune.

He said the nest has been on the switch for about two years.

“At this point, we do not believe the nest is active; however, the osprey pair has recently returned and has been spending time at the nest,” the spokesperson wrote. “This indicates they may be close to laying eggs.”

Although ospreys are not endangered, they are among the many species that enjoy protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; that federal law generally bars anyone from destroying a nest that has eggs or chicks in it. 

WAPA said it has a Special Purpose Utility permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that allows the agency to remove nests or eggs under certain conditions, but in this case, they opted to simply wait for nesting season to pass.

The WAPA spokesperson said they’ll work with the City of Powell to reschedule the outage “once it is appropriate to do so.”